Title: Wrong Encounter / Judges 14:1-4
What a person meets is very important in his or her life. When you meet a good person, you do great things, but when you meet a bad person, you get the wrong result. There are quite a few false encounters in the Bible. The meeting of Eve and the serpent, the meeting of Cain and Abel, the meeting of Jesus and Judas Iscariot, etc., are really wrong meetings.
Jesus said to Judas (Mark 14:21), "The Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to him who betrays him, for it would have been better for him if he had not been born." . It can be said to be a retrospective on the wrong meeting.
If this meeting is between a man and a woman, it becomes even more serious. In today's verse, we are talking about the scene where Samson meets a woman from Timnah from the Philistines. Samson falls in love the moment he sees a Philistine woman. He didn't know that this love was the spark that ruined his life. He lost his strength and suffered with his eyes plucked out, until he pulled out the roots of the pillars of the temple of Dagon and died like the Philistines. He marries this woman with difficulty, but is thoroughly exploited and leads to an unfortunate death. There would be no misfortune for Samson had he not met this woman. To avoid starting a bad meeting, you need to know what a bad meeting is.
Meeting starts with seeing
Verse 1 says, “Samson went down to Timnah and there he saw a woman among the Philistine daughters.” In verse 2, the parents harassed their parents, saying, “I saw a woman among the daughters of the Philistines. Did you know that mankind's crimes started with seeing? (Genesis 3:6) “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eye, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate, and gave it to her husband with her, and he also ate.” If we had not seen the fruit, there would have been no fall of mankind.
Not everything you see is good. When seeing is the standard, that encounter is like digging a well for misfortune. Samson was a holy man who was set apart as a Nazarite by birth. However, when it comes to marriage age, the criteria for choosing a wife are based on appearance and lust.
People naturally have the urge to do things they are not supposed to do. The devil, who overthrew the first man, still takes advantage of this man's weakness. This woman is a Philistine. That is, they are Gentiles. An Israeli must not marry a Gentile. (Deuteronomy 7:3) “And you shall not marry them, and you shall not give your daughter to your son, and you shall not make her your daughter-in-law.” Dear saints, Why do you do things you shouldn't do and try to see things you shouldn't?
The moment Samson sees this woman with the lust of his eyes, Samson's mission to the Lord disappears. When you look outward, your inner self is obscured. It's called 見物生心. Seeing a beautiful woman makes me want to marry her. I have no idea who the woman is. The devil paralyzes the heart of believers with what he sees.
Have you met any seemingly good encounters with you now? Have you ever started getting drunk with your looks? The results are obvious. Hear the voice of the Lord. (James 2:9) It is not all happy to see, "If ye choose people by their outward appearance, you are sinning, and the law will condemn you." The Lord says (Matthew 18:9), "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it out. It is better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell."
man sees from his position
It matters where people are. There is a saying, "A dog's eyes only see an O." This is the eternal truth. (1) “Samson went down to Timnah, and there he saw a woman among the Philistine daughters.” View from the Philistines. The Philistine Timnah is home to idolaters. When you enter a place like this, you will be immersed in their thoughts. Seeing a foreign woman in a foreign land makes her want to marry her.
(Psalm 1:1) "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers." Samson's descent to Timnah is the starting point of sin. It is for this reason that we Christians are prone to crime. Those who are there but do not think about them are Christians. We live in this world, but we are not the only ones living in this world. Although the body is inevitably placed in this world, it is a Christian who lives a life in heaven. Joseph is in a place of temptation, but he did not think of temptation. Although he is with Potiphar's wife, he considers him to be with the Lord. (Genesis 39:9) "There is no one greater in this house than I, and the master has kept nothing from me, but he has kept it from me, for you are his wife. How then can I do this great evil and sin against God?"
Choose only for yourself
Hebrews cannot marry without parental permission. Parents remind us of the Word and speak of the injustice of the marriage. But Samson reveals his selfishness by saying, “I love her; bring her for me” (verse 3). The fact that these words came out of the mouth of Samson, a Nazarite, already foresaw misfortune. These words are coming out of the mouths of people who have to live for their mission and for God.
Verse 4 tells us that Samson met this woman with good intentions. There is a western proverb that says: "Don't steal a candle to read the Bible." Samson's statement that he had the wrong meeting to strike the Philistines is not biblical.
Samson's lust and the choice of his eyes cannot be covered by these words. Rather, it is the correct interpretation that God works through his absurd mistakes even in Samson who chose such a wrong encounter. God works even through human error. Even through the absurd incident that Judas Iscariot sold Jesus, God is the one who accomplishes his work.
A Nazarite is not one who lives "for me", but one who lives "for the Lord." But "Bring it for me"? The saints are not people who live for themselves, but people who live for the Lord and for the church. Selfish decisions, choices, and encounters lead to the destruction of not only oneself, but also the church and God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) Do not forget, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Dear saints,
We live in the midst of encounters that are not possible in a day. Isn't your meeting possibly the wrong one? Judging by appearance, don't you know that your position is dirty? Isn't it a choice that ignores God, a selfish encounter? Get rid of bad encounters quickly.